Deburring rifle brass

I have been trimming lots of rifle brass lately between a Lyman large style trimmer and the Lee lock stud and cutter. It seems no matter what I do, the cases get a heck of a burr on the outside of the case, easily enough to feel when you run a finger nail over it. I use a chamfer/deburring tool on all of these but it doesn’t seem to correct it unless I angle it so greatly that the cutting edge is near parallel with the case neck. I haven’t reloaded a lot of rifle rounds recently so this has me tripped up. Any insight? Do I need to correct this or does it get smoothed out a bit in the bullet seating die?


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From my experience the burr you are seeing has a direct relationship to the condition of the trimmer blades. A good sharp carbide cutter blade will usually minimize the burr left behind. That said, a good sharp chamfer tool should remove it as well. Hope this helps.

I've trimmed cases that left an burr so aggressive that when I deburred them it would eject a thin brass ring.
The neck (inside and out) needs to be smooth, continue deburring till it is.

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Originally Posted by Jbotto

I have been trimming lots of rifle brass lately between a Lyman large style trimmer and the Lee lock stud and cutter. It seems no matter what I do, the cases get a heck of a burr on the outside of the case, easily enough to feel when you run a finger nail over it. I use a chamfer/deburring tool on all of these but it doesn’t seem to correct it unless I angle it so greatly that the cutting edge is near parallel with the case neck. I haven’t reloaded a lot of rifle rounds recently so this has me tripped up. Any insight? Do I need to correct this or does it get smoothed out a bit in the bullet seating die?


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Just take the burr off inside and outside. Don't worry it being perfect.

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It just seems that if I use both the Lee and Forster chamfer/deburring tool that it puts a blade like edge on the case mouth by the time it actually removes the burr.


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Originally Posted by Jbotto

It just seems that if I use both the Lee and Forster chamfer/deburring tool that it puts a blade like edge on the case mouth by the time it actually removes the burr.

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You done it right!

I get exactly the same bur that you are talking about. And I have to angle the case on the deburring tool exactly the way you describe. I think what flyeralan said, a dull cutter blade, is the culprit. I’m going to try a carbide cutter and see if this helps “cut” the brass rather than “push” the brass.

I agree, sounds like a dull cutter to me. Carbide isn’t sharper, then a high speed steel cutter, but it will last longer. The trade off is that it’s more brittle, so be careful not to drop it or rough handle it.

I find the deburring tools you use will make a big difference on the ease of deburring. Sinclair makes a set that I am especially fond of.


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Originally Posted by Benny

You done it right!

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Oh good. I’m glad you said so! I thought I had read somewhere that you weren’t supposed to sharpen brass to an edge like that so I was worried I was doing it wrong.


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Originally Posted by JeffreyDeGraff

I get exactly the same bur that you are talking about. And I have to angle the case on the deburring tool exactly the way you describe. I think what flyeralan said, a dull cutter blade, is the culprit. I’m going to try a carbide cutter and see if this helps “cut” the brass rather than “push” the brass.

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I have a carbide cutter head in my Lyman trimmer and it still created a heck of a burr.


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Originally Posted by Jbotto

I have a carbide cutter head in my Lyman trimmer and it still created a heck of a burr.


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Well damn. That blows that idea out of the water. I guess I will keep on keeping on then. Some of my brass gets sharp like yours, but I haven’t had any problems (except a few cuts on my hands) with them.


JTD

In my experience this would be caused by either a dull cutter(less likely) or more likely trying to cut too fast. Just like cutting wood with a saw if you try to force the cut it makes it rougher, puts more stress on wood and saw. Try feeding your trimmer into the case slower and let the cutter cut. And deburring until you have sharp edge does not hurt anything unless you take off so much you actually shorten the case which can cause issues with crimping.

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Originally Posted by Wolfdog

In my experience this would be caused by either a dull cutter(less likely) or more likely trying to cut too fast. Just like cutting wood with a saw if you try to force the cut it makes it rougher, puts more stress on wood and saw. Try feeding your trimmer into the case slower and let the cutter cut. And deburring until you have sharp edge does not hurt anything unless you take off so much you actually shorten the case which can cause issues with crimping.

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That makes a lot of sense wolfdog, I will take a little more time and cut slower and see how that works.


JTD

I’ll have to try and go slower. See if that does fix it. Thanks for the suggestions!


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